Ardy SixKiller Clarke

As founder and director of the Center for Bilingual and Multicultural Education, Ardy SixKiller Clarke secured $27 million in grants to support outreach and fund scholarships for Native Americans and for women. She provided over 450 scholarships to Native American students and women and worked with 27 tribal groups in the Northwest. Clarke received numerous research grants to study high risk youth and families which took her off campus to work with American Indian school districts, Alaska Native village schools and Native Hawaiian Charter Schools. She wrote a well-known book, Sisters in the Blood: Education of Women in Native America, which became a best-seller and is used nationwide in women’s studies. Her research has also examined PTSD, trauma, depression and its impact on learning among Native youth. She is the co-founder of the Native Nations Education Foundation that works for the rights of indigenous women and children in the America and South Pacific. Using personal funds to establish a scholarship program, Clarke continues to support the education of Native students by contributing 10 percent of the profits from her books to the scholarship fund. Clarke earned her Ph.D. from Monana State University in 1981.

Ardy SixKiller Clarke established the first Center for Bilingual and Multicultural Education at MSU, providing over 450 scholarships to Native American students and women.